Sam Houston State has already defeated Rice once this season, a proud moment for the Bearkats first year head coach David Pierce who came to Huntsville via Rice, where he served as a pitching coach on Wayne Graham's staff for years.
But that victory was before Sam Houston clinched its first Southland Conference regular season championship since 1989. The Bearkats are rolling now, and so are the Owls for that matter, being the Conference USA champion and ranked No. 5 in the nation.
This is a matchup between a pair of local teams that could make deep runs in the postseason.
Here is a quote from Pierce to Gene Schallenberg of The Huntsville Item:
"First of all, a lot of the RPIs and the at-large picks are really out of our hands. It's our job to go out there and play a clean game every day and be as consistent as we can," Sam Houston head coach David Pierce said Monday morning.
"We just try to continue to position ourselves."
Check out the schedule and broadcast information for the Rice-SHSU game:
Date: Tuesday, May 15, 6:30 p.m. CT
Location: Don Sanders Stadium - Huntsville, TX
Online streaming: www.gobearkats.com